A quick hi to all...it is fun to be part of a group actively going/working for good health, goal weights and fitness.

Special thanks to Meowee for the Prevention link. I am a Prevention junky; if I
haven't read it in Prevention, it ain't true........and yet, I missed that article. I do get the emails, too....don't know how I could have missed it, but I bookmarked it now!

I have to say, this time of year it is easier to get excited about fruits and veggies....my raspberries are awesome, and the cherry tomatoes are sweeter than the Big Boys, but they are mighty fine, too. My dog loves my cucumbers.....do you believe that? He loves them..if I don't give him one that has overgrown and gotten too big, he goes to the vine and picks his own!

Have a great weekend, all!

Hi there gang . . .

Sounds like a good plan, RUTHANNIE . . . planning ahead usually pays off. Just tell your waitress to make sure your water glass is always full and keep chugging away at that when you feel the urge for one more bite of something tempting . . . and have a great, great Birthday . . .

Oh yes indeed MARYBLU, this is such a great time of year for fresh produce to fill up with . . . I just love tomatoes and raspberries are my very favourite fruit. This morning for breakfast I made the famous 3FC protein pancake recipe just overflowing with fresh local blueberries.

Hi again TAMMY . . . once again, thanks for introducing me to that pancake recipe . . . how about posting it here for the newbies who aren't addicted to it yet (I could do it, of course, but figure you should have the honour.)

Good luck with the weekend challenges TINA . . . you can do it, girl. I know how important those family visits are for you . . . and thanks for the plateaux busting hints. BTW, did you get moved into the new house?

Lots of water definitely helps me, ANGELA. I try for ten 8 oz glasses a day (2.5 litres). Have to admit sometimes I count the occasional diet coke and I always count Crystal Light. Drinking lots of water prevents water retention and, of course, water weighs a lot. Sodium encourages water retention. One of the best ways to 'make up' for a high sodium day (like chinese food, for example) is to drink extra water the next day.

Anyway -- speaking of things that encourage water retention -- we are back to sunshine today (after torrential rains yesterday) and while that's nice, we happen to have 97% humidity to go with it and high humidity is also notorious for bringing on water retention problems for me. So I'll be trying for extra water intake today.

Hope everybody has a great moving and shaking day planned . . . see you all soon . . .

Hi chickies! Just taking a few moments to peek my head in here. Love to see the action going on! Anyways...I'm hanging in there (thanks Linda for the encouragement). We just went to lunch to my sis's family favorite place...a fish and chips joint. Believe me it smelled good, but honest to my Lord I wasn't feeling it and felt quite good about eating my toss salad and wrap! Woo Hoo! No endulgences so far and I'm so stoked about that! One day down, just 1 1/2 days left to go and it's Monday! Phew!

A quick welcome to Ruthannie, thanks for coming to check us out! Looking forward to getting to know you and walking down the same path to weight loss and health!

Hope you all are having a good weekend so far...I'll be back for personals when I can!

Humidity- ugh! It's why we vacation in the desert. I always feel like I swell up when the humidity is high. Maybe it's just that everything sticks and clothes feel small. Staying hydrated helps alot though. I try to get 3 liters a day, sometimes more. The sometimes diet soda, I do have a morning coffee and a green tea every day. My day doesn't feel started without several glasses of water though. The water thing was never a struggle for me- I have other weak spots.

In looking through journals from November-January when I lost the beginning part of this- I noticed that it's the vegetables and minimally processed whole grains that seem to work well for me. LOTS of veggies and low glycemic fruits like apples and berries. Grains like Kashi and brown rice- not a lot, but grains still in their whole form rather than baked goods (even the whole grain ones). So that's kind of where I'm steering the bulk of my food planning.

I really like that with points it's my choice and no food is off limits, I can just choose the more whole fresh stuff or a treat. Now the challenge for tomorrow is figuring out how to count the foods at brunch.

ruthannie

Hi gang . . .

Poor old Nova Scotia set "mugginess" records again yesterday. Today is supposed to be even worse. Some thunderstorms are being prediced for later this afternoon and, hopefully, that will clear out some of the humidity.

I thought I was avoiding the dreaded 'Fruit-fly Infestation' this year, but they caught up with me yesterday. Had to wrestle a battalion of the little devils for my last peach and, although I won that little skirmish , I guess they are winning the war at the moment since I had to put all the rest of the fruit (including the tomatoes) into the fridge and set out the infamous 'vinegar jars'. Yuck, I don't like cold fruit and a refridgerated tomato is just a shadow of itself.

Anyway, hope everybody is having a great day. I'm planning to spend most of mine in front of the A/C. Keep doing the good stuff, gang. See you really soon . . .

Tina - thanks for starting this thread. Together we can all reach our goals.
You are an inspiration!

Hey ladies! Gosh, I hoped that I would have a little more time this morning to write up a good post...personals included. But I have a house full of little feet today. My cousin had to go to the hospital for some tests and I'm watching his girls for him. But I will share with you, 1) I maintained my loss over the weekend and 2) knowing I had to babysit by 7am, I got up at 6am to exercise! Gosh, I'm so committed again...yay!!

Lisa, welcome! You're right, with a little inspiraiton, motivation and support from others we can certainly beat anything together! Thanks for coming to check us out!

Hey ladies, how is everyone doing today? My scales seem stuck at 231 right now even though I have been sticking to plan, but that is what this thread is all about right.................. I am hoping this week to turn up he heat on the exercise and be a little stricter with my food. Maybe that will get those scales moving again.

For those of you that do not know me, I want to let all of you know now, I am probably not going to be a daily poster in the thread. Its not that I don't want to but things in my life are so hectic right now that I tend to run out of time during the day. I work full time and have 4 kids, football season has started and my youngest (Mark, 6) has practice 4 nights a week and games on Saturday. My two oldest kids Vicki (15) and Mike (13) think that mom is a personal chauffeur and my 7 year old Matt has homework everynight that he needs help with. While I am handling all of this my husband (Randy) is in the military and will be deploying to Iraq in October. I am the President of the Family Readiness Group for his Company and am dealing with families that have never been through a deployment before and do not know what to expect. And even though all of this is no excuse some of these things are the reason I have let my weightloss take the back seat in my life. But I have realized that it should never be in the back no matter what is going on. I have to get to a healthy weight for me.

Well moving on, I am excited to see all of the faces here and feel as long as we stick together we will make it to where we want to be.

Good afternoon ladies!

OMG!!! It is so nice to you TINA, boy have I missed our 1lb thread!!!

I hear ya girl it's to get back in the groove. I've been stuck between 185-188 for the last 3mths!!! But with all honesty, I have not been really trying as hard as I know I can. I'm ready now to kick these last 12lbs and maybe even more, WHO KNOWS!!!

You ladies have a great evening!!

Hi girls. Today is my birthday-YAY! So you know I had to treat myself to a small piece of cake:-) I did really well over the weekend. I lost 2.5 pounds, and I'm hoping there's no way the cake will put all that back on0LOL! I have been drinking tons of water in hopes that it will keep me full. I've also been skipping out on the sampling of my two year olds meals (ha,ha...I know we all do it)!! It is a challenge every day. I like coming on here to read your posts...it is very motivating. I hope you are all doing well, and had a fabulous weekend. Can't wait to here more of your results. Take care.

Okay, I'm back again. Time to do a real post! LOL

Ruthannie, I hope you had an awesome birthday! I for one know I love having my healthy hat back on. Nothing feels any better than to be (or to feel) like your in control again. Even though I'm living with the "damages" and still look the same on the outside, I feel like a skinnier person on the inside for doing the best I can each day to get healthier.

Maryblu, you can say that again. It sure is great to know there are people out there going through exactly what you are and who are as excited as yourself to work towards the same goals. I gotta say reading your post about your raspberries, tomatoes and cucumbers got me craving. Ahhhh...they sound so delicious!

Linda, no we lost the house we put a bid on to hold while we sold our own. Somebody put the exact same offer on it and was able to move in ASAP (that means $$ to the builder ASAP). We being the first bidders had 48hrs. to react, but where and who on earth can pull that amount of money out of their back pocket. ($400,000 +) Luckily our realtor was kind enough to cancel his contract with us. Anyways...I don't envy you in the least with all that humidity...arrgggh..that's gotta to be the worst!

Robbin, if anybody deserved to be nominated for wife and mother of the year award it would be you. Gosh, I had to sit down and take a breather after reading your post! Girl, your stove must have a lot of burners on it, but so glad you could find one on there for weightloss. Don't worry we all understand and probably can sympathize with you as to finding time just for "you". Keep thriving to strive.

Jana, hey girl. Look at you! So close to goal! Awesome work. Take it from me, no matter how long your body seems to "hang out" keep trying. Try intensifying your workout, or adjust your calories. Your body needs to be "shocked" into moving again. You can do it!!

Angela, Happy Birthday!! Yeah, I can imagaine "one" piece of cake is forgiveable on your birthday. Congratulations on the (-)2.5lbs. Woo Hoo! Keep it coming girl! Funny you said ("you know we all do it") regarding your kids meals...isn't that a terrible mindless thing all us mothers do?!! Sheesh! LOL! I'm glad you like coming here and feel motivated...that means this thread is doing what is intended to do.

Phew! Glad I could get all caught up with you all! Have a great day! Here's to making one small decision today to better your outcome on the scales tomorrow (figuratively speaking).

Hi gang . . .

Weather is much, much better today and I'm taking advantage of it. Just about to run out again, but wanted to say a quick Hi to everybody.

See you soon . . .

Hey! How do you guys get the weight tracker on your signature? They are super cute! Thanks for your help.

hey girls----

I must MUST be a part of this group! After exercising and being awesome, I've let myself slowwwllyyy faaallllll off the bandwagon and drag my butt behind it! I've been having bad days like 3 days out of the week--- including pizza TWICE this week with no remorse!
I still jog and all... but i just CANNOT get a handle on my cravings and desires. and I always give myself excuses "one time won't hurt". well, it does!!!

due to that, i'm up to 138 today and i havent been able to get down to my desired 135 for a MONTH......

leda

Sorry to post again....I just want to see if I figured out this whole "weight tracker" thing. Thanks!!